Sports and recreation

By virtue of California’s size and the diversity of its physical and human geography, most of the world’s popular recreational activities and sports are practiced somewhere in the state—from skiing along the Sierra Nevada as far south as Big Bear Mountain near San Bernardino and surfing on California’s beaches, especially those from Santa Barbara to San Diego, to surfing-inspired skateboarding, the first major contest in which was held in Hermosa Beach in 1963.

California has a panoply of professional sports franchises, and, like many Californians, a number of them once called somewhere else home and some have ... (100 of 11,660 words)